India shrugged off their recent T20 World Cup 2021 disappointment with a five-wicket win in the T20I series opener against New Zealand in Jaipur. Rohit Sharma-captained new-look Indian team gave Rahul Dravid a win in his first match as the new head coach of the senior side. However, the think tank won’t be looking too much into their victory as they left it too late to overhaul the 165-run target set by the visitors. For the second match, the team management can look to go in with the same combination and clinch the series before making any changes to the playing XI before the final game.
KL Rahul: The newly appointed vice-captain of the T20I squad will want to move on from a mediocre outing in the first match where he ended up scoring only 15 runs off 14 deliveries. Rahul looked good in patches but failed to get going and departed while trying to take on Mitchell Santner.
Rohit Sharma: The captain led from the front and showcased an array of shots before falling on a personal score of 48 runs. The win as the leader will give Rohit renewed confidence for the remaining fixtures.
Suryakumar Yadav: Suryakumar stepped onto the field with a positive intent and gave nothing away to the bowlers during his fine innings of 62 runs scored at a strike-rate of over 150.
Rishabh Pant: Wicket-keeper batter Pant displayed immense application and played the situation well as he took the team past the finishing line with a four off Daryl Mitchell in the last over of the match.
Shreyas Iyer: A return to the team proved to be a forgetful one for Iyer after being left out of India’s T20 World Cup squad in UAE and Oman. Iyer looked out of sorts and failed to middle the ball during his eight-ball stay at the crease, at a time when the management would have expected him to guide the team home along with Pant.
Venkatesh Iyer: Making his debut, all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer didn’t get a chance to bowl but started his batting career in international cricket with a beautiful four. However, he will be disappointed not to have finished off the game, falling prey to a reverse sweep off Mitchell.
Axar Patel: Axar will look to get into the game more in Ranchi after going wicketless in the first match. He gave away 31 runs off his four overs while getting only one ball to face during India’s chase.
Ravichandran Ashwin: Ashwin left it late to get into the wicket column but surely made an impact as he claimed two wickets in his final over to end with decent figures of two wickets for 23 runs. His two wickets, helped to bring New Zealand’s run rate down.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: One huge positive for Team India was Bhuvneshwar’s form in the first match. He looked in full control as he swung the ball both ways to claim two wickets at an economy of six runs per over.
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Deepak Chahar: Chahar will look to improve on his economy rate after giving away more than 40 runs in the first match. He pitched the ball in right areas but often lost control of his line and gave several bad balls to the New Zealand batters.
Mohammed Siraj: Siraj looked like someone who was coming off from a break after the Indian Premier League and can be expected to only improve going into the next games of the series. He conceded 39 runs and took one wicket in his four overs.
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